Welcome to the Midlife Irish

I don't miss blogging. I don't miss podcasting. The grind wore me down and I simply didn't have the time or energy to dedicate to it.

I do, however, miss writing.

I'd like to think there's a massive difference. Writing serves to get thoughts out of my head and on a page. Blogging and podcasting are battles for attention. Audience capture happens in one of two ways: capitalizing on SEO (which I always sucked at) or delivering a narrative that you can rally an audience around.

Her Loyal Sons, which I wrote for before I used to run for over a decade, was very much a "hey, we're the anti-ND Nation narrative." That we were good at. We loved deep dives, encouraging people to take a look at the larger college football world, and having fun while doing so.

That's what I retired from. I have no desire to return or even to build an audience like HLS had.

Or to do this for free.

So here's the deal: the first newsletter of every month (like this one) will be free as will a portion of every newsletter. Full access for what will remain at minimum a weekly publishing schedule is just $3/month. Why $3? Because that's a dollar per week behind the paywall and the number three has a lot of history within Notre Dame football.

If just a handful of y'all are into this, it's well worth the effort and will cover the server costs of this, plus my Extra Life newsletter that I run at a loss. And, to be clear, I'm actually trying to side-gig this, even at a few bucks. So if you are between supporting this or Extra Life, I'd obviously want you to choose helping sick kids.

The Excitement Is Real

While a few extra bucks is certainly motivation to write again, so is this year's version of Notre Dame football.

I've yet to experience entering a season like this. In previous years, the Irish faithful craft a list of things that need to go right in order for the Notre Dame to capture their first national title since I was three years old. This year, that list inverted.

Quarterback isn't a transfer portal gamble, but an experienced Heisman hopeful in C.J. Carr. Notre Dame bid farewell to two first-round running backs and yet the running game isn't a massive concern. The WR corps is solid and can find additional levels of greatness if one of two Ohio State transfers hit and the Mike Denbrock takes advantage of the end of the redshirt to use speedy freshman to his advantage.

And how often do we as Notre Dame fans walk into a season knowing the defensive backfield is elite, anchored by a likely unanimous All American in Leonard Moore. The defensive line is a terrifying beast and, like the WR, can rise to additional levels of terror if Alabama transfer (and one time Irish recruiting target), Keon Keeley, hits his full potential.

I'm only scratching the surface of the roster, but it's safe to say that Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame have figured out quite the system to beef up the roster in the NIL era (although the same can't be said for other sports, which is a whole other topic I'll have to dive into).

I'm sure there is a contingent of Notre Dame fans worried about the "soul" of college football. I'd argue this era is the closest thing to the foundations of Notre Dame built by Knute Rockne, a man that would happy bring the best on his team even if they might have been pro players or degenerate gamblers.

Embrace it: we're a school flush with wealthy alumni ready to throw money at the program until we raise another banner. Combine that with a coach that knows how to sell Notre Dame and it's no surprise how many incredibly talented young men find their way to South Bend.

And it's not like the GSR rating has taken a nose-dive either. Notre Dame has long tried to thread the student-athlete needle, often times to the determent of the program. I very much enjoy this new reality of bringing in people under the Dome that might not have gotten the chance in years past and still seeing the success on and off the field.

To put it another way, this team is just plain fun to be a fan of. There's a good reason the Irish have been a popular pick to win it all this season. The sports math agrees with the Irish in 3rd in SP+ and the easiest schedule in the top 10.

Speaking of the schedule, thanks for tanking it, Southern Cal. I will very much enjoy watching you still missing the playoffs despite dodging ND. The good news is that you probably won't have many fans seeing it happen live either.

After the playoff snub last season, Marcus has preached leaving no doubt. Loads of eyes have the chance to see the start of this campaign on Sunday evening as the Irish stand alone with the Badgers in the national spotlight.

Picks

This year, I am again participating in PodKatt's pick 'em pool. The picks will be SEC heavy, but will typically always have the biggest games of the week as well.

Will I pretend to know what's going on across all of college football season? Not really. One of the themes you'll see throughout this newsletter is the very different way that I consume the sport.

For instance, did I watch anything during week 0? Not really. Did I know, thanks to social media, that UNC/TCU was slop, FSU tried really hard to blow it, and Stanford barely survived Hawaii? Absolutely! That sufficient knowledge, right?!

With that in mind, here's what I've come up with: